There is nothing like a good mystery to attract the undivided attention of
a scholar and indeed, over the centuries, the Stabat Mater has provided a
worthy challenge. Its authorship is attributed to several sources, but the
prime contenders are Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) and Jacapone di Todi
(d. 1306). However important establishing authorship might be to students of literary
history, the words of the poem and its structure are of greater significance.
The Stabat Mater is said to be the most beautiful Latin poem ever written,
with its twenty perfectly formed three-line stanzas telling, firstly, of
Mary's grief at the cross, then, the author pleading to share Christ's pain
and, finally, begging Mary to intercede for him.

This exquisite poem has attracted more than 400 composers to set it to
music and Haydn's setting is ranked with the foremost of these. Yet,
although he had written two short masses, the Stabat Mater was his
first major choral composition and he was in need of reassurance. It seems
he sought approval of his composition from a leading composer of the day,
but he need not have worried. Once performed publicly in Vienna, the work
set out on its triumphant progress across the rest of Europe.

The immaculate scansion of the verses did not lend itself to Germanic
oratorio treatment, but, then, Haydn was not looking back to the baroque
style; rather, he was at the forefront of composers ushering in the new
classical period. Throughout, his strongly melodic setting is sympathetic
to the devotional and somewhat sombre mood of the words and slow tempi
predominate, intensified by the bold use of inventive harmonies and
chromaticisms. Nevertheless, a sense of contrast is provided by judicious
use of faster tempi, while the introduction of dance-like triple-time
rhythms in passages such as the Virgo
virginun quartet bring a breath of Austrian folk music into the work.

As Haydn's star was finally setting in Vienna, so a new star was born into
the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy household in Hamburg. The baby Felix was to
become a great composer but probably would have succeeded equally well as a
painter, a littérateur or even an athlete.

In 1835, Mendelssohn was invited to conduct the Gewandhaus concerts in
Leipzig, and it was here that, working under the shadow of Bach, he
completed St Paul. Bachís influence on his oratorio is clear,
although this was not entirely due to his being in Leipzig. He had always
respected the great master and was largely responsible for the revival of
Bach's works.

St Paul, first performed in Düsseldorf in 1836, gained
considerable popularity in England and was performed extensively. During
Mendelssohnís visit to England in 1839, he conducted performances of his
music, including St Paul, which were staged at the Birmingham
Festival. Although nowadays overshadowed by Elijah which appeared
ten years later, St Paul contains all of the excitement of the
former, telling, through recitatives, arias and choruses, about the
persecution of the Christians, about the conversion and baptism of Saul
(now renamed Paul), his preaching of Christianity and healing the sick,
the inevitable threats on his life - stoning to death seemed to be the
in-vogue method reserved for Christians - and his
deliverance to fight another day.

A donation from the proceeds of this concert will be given to St Mary's
Kelvedon

Tickets are £8, and will include a glass
of wine. If you wish to purchase tickets in advance, please telephone 01376 561288.